Mobile Pastoralists Have Valuable Knowledge On How Best To Coexist With Wild Life
The Bacak family’s spring migration in Turkey underscores mobile pastoralism’s role in biodiversity and climate-friendly practices. Their use of livestock-guarding dogs offers insights into human-wildlife coexistence. Addressing habitat loss and integrating pastoralist knowledge with scientific expertise fosters harmonious coexistence.
This spring, we are accompanying the Bacak family of Sarıkeçili nomadic pastoralists in Turkey during their hundreds of kilometres of spring migration from their wintering site on the shores of the Mediterranean to their summering sites in Central Anatolia, beyond the Taurus Mountains. Their journey highlights various dimensions of mobile pastoralism as a biodiversity and climate-friendly cultural practice. We are excited to share our in-situ observations day by day, each focusing on a particular aspect of mobile pastoralism.
Living alongside carnivores on a daily basis, mobile pastoralists play a vital role in determining how best to coexist with wildlife. Rather than reacting to incidents after they occur, the emphasis should be on prevention through the use of appropriate techniques. The traditional practice of using livestock guarding dogs, such as the Kangal (also known as Anatolian shepherd dog) and Akbaş breeds, by mobile pastoralists in Turkey serves as an excellent example. Their specific traditional ecological knowledge on training and managing guardian dogs, as well as understanding which breed is most efficient in different conditions, provides valuable insights for mitigating human-wildlife conflicts.
Habitat fragmentation and loss pose significant threats to both mobile pastoralists and wildlife. These pressures often lead to a decrease in the abundance of wild prey for carnivores, forcing them to expand their foraging ranges and increasing the likelihood of predation on livestock. Addressing these conflicts requires comprehensive nature conservation policies that address the root causes, such as the recovery of wild ungulate populations.
At the local level, solutions must be generated that incorporate concerns for both human safety and livelihoods, as well as nature conservation. By integrating the knowledge and experiences of mobile pastoralists, along with scientific expertise, we can develop context-specific and empirically grounded recommendations that promote harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.
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